6 Formulas For the Perfect Pinterest Infographic

Whether it be on mobile or desktop, an infographic just looks at home on the site. And unlike other social media sites, your infographic fits perfectly into the Pinterest feed.

And because they fit so well, there are now thousands of infographics on the platform.

Which is great but it also makes it harder for the infographics you create to stand out.

That’s why we studied over 200 Pinterest infographic examples to try and figure out the formula for the perfect Pinterest infographic.

We manually evaluated the infographics based on a variety of qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Those included topic, type of infographic, dominant style, expected reaction, the number of story points, font, colors used, chart types, the ratio of length to width.

Although a few people evaluated the infographics, we did a big normalization process within the team to make sure that all of the infographics were coded consistently on each dimension.

To measure the performance of the infographics, we looked at the number of pins and likes. Which is a better indicator?

For Pinterest, pins are a far better indicator of success as pinning is a combination of liking and sharing and is the main user action on Pinterest.

Based on our research we identified 6 factors for a great Pinterest infographic. You can view the infographic summary and read the details in the write-up that follows below.

Now just because you picked a popular topic doesn’t mean your infographic is going to be popular instantly.

Your Pinterest infographic has to offer a little more than just a popular topic. Something that someone will not only read but also feel compelled to share.

2. Be funny, challenging or useful

The best infographics have a clear angle: Will your infographic make someone laugh, help them do something, answer their questions or change their lifestyle?

We looked at our sample of Pinterest infographics and coded each one with what we thought would be the reaction the infographic produced:

Funny or cute: the infographic gave us a good laugh or an “awww” like when you see a cute kitten

Challenging: the infographic made us a bit uncomfortable as it took us out of our comfort zone, similar to how you would react when seeing a chart with the number of deaths caused by Malaria.

Useful: the infographic gave us practical information and made us feel like we learned something we could use in real life.

Aspirational: the infographic was motivational, and made us feel like we could achieve something we want.

Surprising: the infographic gave us a pleasant surprise, either because the information was counterintuitive or was completely not what we expected.

Interesting: the infographic was informational (though not directly practical for our own usage), similar to learning some interesting fact (ie, 65% of Coffee drinks like instant coffee) on a news article.

Here is what we found:

If they find it helpful, funny or interesting they will be more likely to share it with their friends…and if you can get two or all three of those you will have a winner!

For example, this infographic about commonly misspelled words checks both the “funny” and “helpful” boxes:

I mean, they help you remember how to spell definitely with this charming quip:

That is something that is definitely going to stick in my brain for a long time.

Another way to create a successful Pinterest infographic is to offer genuinely useful information. These types of infographics are usually formatted using numbered steps, section headers, or bullet points.

This list of smoothie recipes is a great example of turning simple but useful information into an infographic.

A step by step infographic is similar to the list infographic but in this case it outlines a process. These types of infographics are extremely popular on Pinterest because they can easily summarize things like a workout, a recipe or a DIY project.

In the example below once you check all of those boxes, you are ready to launch your startup.

Statistical infographics present numbers and statistics as the main focus.

Statistical infographics shared on other platforms will often include multiple graphs and charts. But statistical infographics on Pinterest typically contain only key stats or numbers, with big visuals like icons and illustrations. This makes them easier to read.

Whatever you decide to create, just make sure the information is organized and easy to follow.

4. Serif fonts are popular but make sure it fits your topic

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating an infographic is using the wrong font. This is especially true when it comes to mobile browsing. If the font you use is too hard to read, people are more likely to skip over your infographic.

The main problem is that there are literally too many fonts to choose from sometimes.

Serif fonts were the most popular in Pinterest infographics:

That being said, picking the “right” font is subjective and a popular font is not always the right font for your infographic. What matters is that your font is legible.

Here are a few tips for picking a good font for your infographic:

Choosing a font that fits the theme of your infographic.

Are you trying to convey a playful or serious tone? Humorous or dark?

Think about the audience and the purpose of your infographic. If the goal of your infographic is to share data, you probably want to make the infographic look more professional than cartoonish.

Sometimes, it helps to take a look at other infographics that cover similar topics, to grasp how you should think about a font choice.

For example, this fun example from the infographic masters at Office Vibe uses a very whimsical font that fits its zombie theme:

I would recommend starting with a red or yellow palette for Pinterest success. We found that infographics with a red color palette outperformed the others by a significant margin:

That being said, pick colors that make sense for your information. Don’t just go out and change all your infographics to red hues–that is the wrong way to take this info!

6. Longform Pinterest infographics rule

The way Pinterest is laid out makes it extremely friendly to infographics.

That is why long form infographics do so well on this platform. Instead of just being able to share a small snippet of your infographic like on Twitter or Facebook, you can share the entire thing on Pinterest.

We found that the most popular infographics have a height that was 9 times its width:

There are no extra clicks required to see the full infographic on Pinterest. You know exactly what you are clicking on from the beginning and I think that is why infographics are so popular on Pinterest.

Plus, with the rise of mobile, I expect long form infographics will continue to rule. This is because they fill the entire screen and still look fantastic.

Now make your own Pinterest infographic!

Whether you are an old Pinterest vet or a new user looking to share your infographics, I think these tips are great for both of you.

Pinterest is such a large and diverse site that there are tons of opportunities for you to create a popular infographic.

Ryan McCready went to the University of Arkansas and graduated with a degree in economics and international business. Now instead of studying the economy he writes about everything and enjoys stirring the pot.